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Craftsman 82357 True RMS PC Interface Multimeter Software/Information Page
Here's
a really quick and dirty web page that will be filled out with more
information in future. For now, all I'm doing here is preserving yet
another piece of long lost software before it's swallowed up into the
quicksands of time. And that's right here. (Also available in Zip format.)
The actual meter hardware is rather more advanced than that of the previously discussed Craftsman 82324 multimeter,
with a (very hokey) display backlight, true RMS measurement capability
(implemented with an Analog Devices converter IC elsewhere on the
meter's circuit board), faster data communication rate and visual
indications as to where the test leads should be connected in each
testing range. You are also directed to disconnect power as appropriate
(capacitor testing range, diode test, ohms resistance and audible
continuity tests).
Less pleasing was my having to shim
the circuit board with a hard object in order to get the display
working properly after I'd had the meter apart for an inspection.
I wish I could say the software is as
nice as that which came with the 82324. This time around it's a 32-bit
Windows application written in Visual Basic 4.0, thus making it easier
to run on a 64-bit Windows system, if that's what you have. It's usable
enough, just not as nicely thought out and designed as that which came
before. As the protocol and data rate are different, you can't use one
meter's software with the other. If you have a really old computer, you
might
stand a chance of getting this software to run under Win32s on Windows
3.1x. I haven't tried it. Same as with Wine on Linux: it should work, but here again I haven't tried it.
Cabling appears to be identical
between this multimeter and the 82324, something I discovered upon
realizing that I didn't get a cable with my 82357. There appears to be
some bidirectionality in the protocol this time around, as the meter
automatically switches to its data logging mode and disables its
automatic power off when you run its software.
I haven't tried using the meter or
its software with anything other than a real serial port, so I can't
say if it works with USB to RS232 serial adapters or expansion cards.
This meter was made for Sears by Wens Precision Company, Limited. (Warning: Adobe Flash Overdose!)
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Copyright © 2017 by William R. Walsh.
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conditions. Last updated: December 4th, 2017.